"What 11 September did to the usage of the term “terrorists,” the Egyptian revolution did for the word baltageya."
Amazing article on the term "baltaga" by my professor and friend, Adel Iskandar:
Revolution Interrupted? The baltageya
"The greatest danger posed by baltageya is not that they instill a state of uncertainty, fear and paranoia in the country, or that they create a culture of violence, or that they foment divisions among the revolutionaries (such as the recent sectarianism), or that they distract from the revolution’s priorities or that they might be ushering, through their actions, a virulent form of military totalitarianism in Egyptian.
Instead, the baltageya are most frightening because their very existence, at least as a rhetorical and legal construction, creates a space above the law. Beyond simply serving as a scapegoat which can be easily demonized, vilified, and eventually punished, they are a shroud which conceals the real actors who sponsor unrest in the country."
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